On the Rocks
by EWhiteOwl18
Summary: It all started with a Joker on the rocks. Nagihiko Fujisaki, a bartender jaded towards humanity, and Amu Hinamori, a dancer who can't dance and was left by her true love because of it. Will this girl break through Nagi's indifference towards people? And what will happen when her "love" returns? They were brought together by their pasts, but will their futures tear them apart?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, chapter one! Just a warning, I'm used to writing Amuto so if Nagi is a little out of character, it's because I'm used to writing Ikuto as the main love interest. XP So... To the story, I guess! And disclaimer for the rest of the story: I don't own Shugo Chara or any of the characters in it, and Nini Hearts (awesome person) is the one who gave me a lot of ideas for this story, so she was a huge help as well. This one is for her! Hope you all like it!**

**On the Rocks**

**Chapter 1**

_It all started with a Joker on the rocks..._

Nagi wasn't expecting anything special. It was just another night at the bar where he worked. There was nothing exceedingly special about that night.

Until she walked in.

Nagi was alone. He didn't have anyone he truly loved. Sure, he had friends that he would see every once in a while. But the vast majority of the time he was at work or at his apartment. And working in a bar sort of made you lose hope in humanity after a while.

So when the girl sat at the bar, he didn't give her another thought. It was just another person. What difference did it make? "What can I get you?" Nagi asked politely.

The girl mumbled, "A Joker. On the rocks."

Nagi glanced at her and hesitated. She was a small girl. He was probably a head taller than her. **(Yes, I know he's only a few inches taller than her in the anime, but they're adults now, so I figure he's probably a lot taller than her now) **And the Joker is a hard drink. To say the least, it's not the sort of drink you can have multiple of without needing a trip to the hospital. He doubted she could handle it. But he made it for her anyways. That's what she wanted. And it was just another girl. Why should he care?

Nagi handed her the tall drink. She didn't hesitate before downing half of it. Nagi blinked, surprised. It was then that he noticed the look in her eyes. She looked like she'd been crying for hours before she'd come here. Her eyes were full of sorrow and held no hope in them whatsoever. Her pink hair was messy and unkempt, like she'd been constantly running her hands through it or she had been laying down for awhile. When the alcohol hit her system, she turned red and seemed to try to hold back tears again.

"Um... Miss..." Nagi paused. She didn't answer. He tried again. "Are you okay, ma'am?" He was working, so he couldn't forget his manners.

The girl's response surprised him, although it shouldn't have. He'd said so himself; the drink was too hard for someone of her weight class. "No, I'm definitely _not _alright!"

Nagi withheld a sigh. She was drunk. But for some reason, he asked her, "What's wrong? What happened?"

The girl looked into Nagi's eyes. She seemed to see something in them because moments later she started with her story.

"I'm actually a dancer. I particularly love ballet." Nagi nodded. Now that he looked at her, she did have a frame suited for that. "Dancing is my life. I've always wanted to be a famous dancer and to perform on stage. And I finally got there. Last year, someone offered me a job. So needless to say I took it. And not long after I actually started dancing on stage, my boyfriend introduced himself to me. His name is Tadase. And we started going out. And everything was perfect.

"But a week ago I hurt myself while dancing. I went to the doctor and he told me that I broke my ankle. He said it would heal but... But..." The girl couldn't seem to hold back her tears anymore. "But I could never dance again."

Nagi watched her sympathetically. He'd done some dancing himself when he was younger, but it centered mostly in the Japanese traditional form. He did some other kinds, but he'd always loved Japanese the most. He could understand how awful it would be to be told that you couldn't dance anymore. Nagi had stopped of his own free will; but to be told that he couldn't? That would've killed him.

Just like it was killing her now.

Nagi was about to tell her as much when she continued. "But that's not all. I told Tadase about it because I was really upset. I wanted him to comfort me. I thought that he could help me through it. But then... He told me that he wanted to break up with me. And then he said... He said that he'd only been in it for my dancing. For the fame. And if I couldn't dance anymore, then what was the point?" Amu laughed coldly. "He told me that to my face."

Nagi raised his eyebrows. He didn't even know this Tadase but he was still appalled at the man. How could someone do something like that?! "That's horrible," Nagi whispered.

Amu hummed in the back of her throat. "You think so too? I'm glad it's not just me overreacting."

Nagi was silent for a moment. "You know, it'll be okay. As cheesy and corny as that sounds, it'll all turn out well in the end. Life has a way of fixing these things." Then he stopped. Why was he trying to comfort her?

The girl looked up at him with something akin to hope in her eyes. "D... Do you really think so?"

That look she gave him melted Nagi's heart. "Yeah, I think so. It's not the end of the world. Everything will turn out okay."

The girl watched him for a few seconds before looking down at the drink. She looked like she was about to drink more.

Before she could bring the cup to her lips, Nagi took it from her and poured it down the drain. The girl stared at him, surprised and confused. He turned back around with a cup of water. "Drink that. I think the Joker's a little bit too strong for you." He paused before adding, "Don't worry about paying. I'll take care of it."

The girl replied in a slurred voice, "Th... Thanks..."

Nagi smiled at her gently. "It's no problem."

She blinked a few times, not taking her eyes off of him. Then she reached over the counter. "My name is Amu."

Nagi took her extended hand and shook it. "Nagi."

"Hey, bartender! Can we get another two beers over here?"

Nagi released Amu's hand and called, "I'll be over in a minute!" He turned back to Amu. "Nice meeting you." Then he turned and began to tend the bar again.

The next time he looked at her seat, she was gone.

**Done! ... I'm not sure how good that turned out. I don't think I did real good with that. XP But I promise it'll get better! I've always been bad with first chapters, cuz I try to think of a way to have a good beginning without giving everything away. So... What do you think? Review, follow. I'm not even gonna ask for faves because I don't think it's worth a fave at this point. XP XP XP But I hope you liked it! I promise it'll get better!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two! Sorry it took so long to update! This story isn't as natural to write for me as most of my stories are. So the updates and language are a little rocky. (me: lol oh, the bad puns. Layla, Ivory, and Lena: ... Layla: Stop talking before you sound like an even bigger idiot.) Um... yeah. That's pretty much it. XP Hope you like it!**

**On the Rocks**

**Chapter 2**

The rest of the night after the pink-haired girl left was the same as every other night; drunks walking in and out the door, having to call taxis for just about everyone who left, people constantly being rude to Nagi. And he took it, just like he did every night.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the next bartender showed up. Sometimes he would just abandon his shift and Nagi would have to work double. If it weren't for the fact that no one else would ever dare to take this job, the guy probably would've been fired long ago.

Nagi clocked out at three in the morning. He didn't get home till four. But that's what it was like every night. The bar was on the complete opposite side of town. It took him an hour to get to and from it every time.

As soon as he got home, Nagi cooked himself dinner. He'd been told that he was a good chef before, but he never really tasted the food. It was the last thing on his mind. He took a quick shower and dropped into his bed. He was asleep within minutes.

It was the same routine as every other night of his life.

But that night he dreamed of dancers gliding across a stage.

And a pinkette in the crowd who looked like she wanted nothing more than to be up there with them.

* * *

The next night, Nagi headed back to the bar after a day of complete emptiness. All he'd done was listen to music and try-and fail-to stop thinking about the pinkette. But he couldn't help it. She was... Different, somehow. Different from every other person he'd ever met. Although working where he did, he hadn't ever met any outstanding citizens.

"Hey, bartender!" The purple-headed man glanced over at a drunk man who looked like he'd been taking steroids since he was five. "Whaddya doin'? My glass is empty! Aren't ya gonna fix that?"

Nagi sighed, irritated, but didn't talk back. "I apologize. I'll be over right away." He spoke almost too-formally, but he doubted the man noticed.

The door to the bar opened again, but Nagi didn't bother looking. It was probably just another drunk, as usual. He quickly mixed the man's drink and put it on the counter in front of him. "Here you go, sir."

The large man stared dumbly down at the tall glass before picking it up angrily. "What the hell is this?!"

Nagi raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem, sir?"

"This ain't what I got!" Nagi refrained from pointing out that the drink was exactly what he'd gotten-a Gin Sour-and that he was an idiot to think that Nagi wouldn't notice.

"Is that so?" the bartender asked politely. "Then could you refresh my memory?"

The man practically snarled. Nagi noticed that his teeth were filed. "Yeah. I got a Budweiser."

Nagi closed his eyes. A Budweiser would've come in a bottle, and he'd had a glass in front of him. "Sir, are you sure? I thought that you asked for a-"

"Are you callin' me a liar?!" He didn't even allow Nagi a chance to answer him. "I'm gonna beat your face in, you sonofa-"

"Hey." A feminine voice interrupted the man's threat. Nagi and the drunken man turned to see a small girl with pink hair and her hands on her hips. "He gave you a drink, so accept it."

Nagi stared at the girl in shock. He hadn't expected her-Amu, he believed-to come back at all. And yet here she was confronting a giant who was drunk off his butt. _Is she insane?!_

"Oh yeah? And what if I don't?"

Amu's eyes wandered around the room. "Well, I'm fairly certain that there's a reason you're drinking here rather than somewhere else. Looking at you, I'm guessing that you've done something that could put you in jail for a long time."

The way the man winced showed that she had hit the nail on the head.

"It wouldn't be that hard to put you away, considering I know your name, Mr. Akuto Kurosaki." Before he could challenge her about how she knew, she raised up a card. Nagi was surprised to find that it was his driver's license. "A nice pickpocket took this from you while you were arguing with the bartender. He thought it would be a good idea to give it to me."

Akuto bared his teeth at Amu. Deciding that it wasn't worth the risk, he threw money on the counter to pay for the drinks. "This isn't over."

And he stormed out of the bar.

Nagi stared at Amu, shocked. She looked perfectly calm as she faced the man down, as if he couldn't snap her in half like a toothpick. She slipped into a bar stool and smiled at Nagi. He shook his surprise off and walked over to her.

"You do realize that he's going to rip your head off, right?" He didn't understand why he cared, but it didn't really matter.

Amu's grin held an undertone of mischief. "If I didn't think I could handle myself, why do you think I came to this bar in the first place?"

Nagi sighed. "You better hope that he's not as tough as he looks, because otherwise you aren't going to live for much longer."

She shrugged. "I'll be fine. I'm actually pretty good at Tae Kwon Do, believe it or not."

The bartender shook his head and remembered he was at work. "Well, what can I get you?"

"Just some water please."

He raised an eyebrow-why did she come to a bar just to order a glass of water?-but gave it to her anyways. He began to polish the black granite counter. "So did you come here just to have some water?"

She smiled. "Not quite. I want to get to know you better."

He glanced up at her. "Any particular reason why?"

She leaned on the bar. "Just curious as to why a nice guy like you is working here."

He shrugged and looked back down at the counter. "I wanted to be a bartender. So here I am."

"You know what I mean. Why this bar in particular?"

Yes, he knew what she meant. Why was he working at a bar that only the worst kind of people came to? The bar that people would come to only when they didn't want to be found by anyone that they might know? The bar that only crazy people would work at? "Because I'm actually clinically insane and they needed someone who was crazy enough to take on the clients when they go too far."

Amu stared at him for a moment before laughing quietly. "Be serious."

"How do you know I'm not? Maybe I actually have multiple personalities and one of them's nice and the other one's a violent psychopath."

She laughed again. Nagi smiled. For some reason, her laugh made him feel... Warm, somehow. "They're the only bar that would accept me. I know how to make more drinks than I don't, and I'm pretty good at it, but I never got a degree of any kind. So the other bars wouldn't hire me, since they actually had bartenders with degrees applying. Nobody in their right mind would come work here, so they hired me due to lack of applicants."

Amu cocked her head to the side. "Did you really want to be a bartender that badly?"

Nagi's face suddenly went cold. "I'd rather not say."

The pinkette was shocked at his sudden change in attitude and leaned back a little bit. "O... Okay."

Nagi felt slightly guilty for snapping at her like that, but he brushed the feeling off. It was none of her business. She was just a random girl, after all; why he'd even told her that much to begin with, he didn't know.

Amu was silent for a moment before nodding. "Okay, sure. Whatever you want."

Nagi glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Why are you so curious anyways?"

She opened her mouth to answer but suddenly, another deep voice yelled, "Hey, bartender! Another round over here!"

Nagi sighed. "Coming, sir." He fixed the drinks and passed them out.

And when he looked back to the girl's stool, just like the night before, she was gone.

**UGH, SO BAD. Sorry it took so long to update! Like I said, this story doesn't come as naturally to me, so it takes me longer to write, and it doesn't always come out very well. But what do you think? Good, bad, horrible, awesome? Review, fave, and follow, please! I'm sorry for such a short update after so long!**


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